If you’ve been training for a spring marathon, the last few weeks will have been filled with mixed emotions for you. Disappointment, upset and a feeling of maybe all of that training was all for nothing.
Many events have been canceled or postponed. But believe me, they are worth the effort. Here we found some rescheduled events for your convenience.
LIST OF SPRING MARATHON EVENTS, RESCHEDULED FOR AUTUMN:
- Edinburgh Marathon Festival - Sunday 6th September
- Brighton Marathon - Sunday 20th September
- London Marathon - Sunday 4th October
- Manchester Marathon - Sunday 11th October
- Paris Marathon - Sunday 18th October
- Barcelone Marathon - Sunday 25 October
We completely understand why you might be feeling this way. After all, marathon training becomes a way of life, and when your end goal is unexpectedly taken away from you, you may feel lost, stressed, and unsure how to move forward.
We’re here to reassure you that, although your event may have been canceled or postponed, all of that incredible fitness you’ve built up hasn’t been in vain. And with such a huge network of other runners all in the same boat, we’re all in this together.
Here are some things you can do during this period of change if you’ve found out an event you’ve been training for has been canceled or moved.
Focus on the positives to help you stay motivated
Your structure might be out the window, and you may be feeling a little lost. You’re used to checking in with your marathon training plan more than you probably would like to admit and scheduling other things around your running. Many of us were reaching our peak marathon training phase, and peak level of fitness, just as all cancellations, postponements and social distancing guidelines were coming into place, but this also means, we’ve already built up a huge amount of fitness, and that’s a hugely positive take away from this current situation. Your body is in great shape, meaning you’re looking after your immune system very well during this health crisis.
Use all the motivation to built up so far, and channel this into other activities you can easily do at home. And you can also use this to help you focus on new goals and new ways to maintain your fitness, during this time. Remember to stay active and train like for competition, for more details, please check our blog simple but effective strategy for 2020 London marathon
Enjoy some shorter runs
There are guidelines in place limiting how much outdoor exercise we can do daily. In the UK at the moment, this is one hour a day of outdoor exercise for a run, bike ride, or walk. So, use this hour to your advantage and use that marathon training to focus on some shorter distance goals. During marathon training, many runners also find that they hit PBs for shorter distances, so why not use your fitness to aim for a new 5k or 10k goal, or aim for your fastest flat-out mile ever. These kinds of challenges will help keep you motivated and focused, and let’s face it, inject some fun into your exercise.
Reset and refocus your goals
Life is usually very busy, and we can feel like we’re on a constant cycle of looking at what the next thing is after an event; establishing a new goal or signing up for the next race... Whilst we’re all having to slow down our way of life, this could be the perfect time to really take a step back, look at longer-term goals, and assess how you might get there. You could write down a bucket list of running goals for later down the line, read up about a particular aspect of running that you really enjoy, or even just write down why you started running in the first place, taking things right back to basics. Simple things like this help you look at the bigger picture; you are not just your next event or your 5k time, you’re an amazing runner, so focus on your why and this could help with training later down the line.
Work on weaknesses
Are you a runner who ignores stretches, strength training, or maybe trains through any niggles or small injuries you may pick up in training? Most of us will say yes to a lot of these, and this is a time to really focus on looking after your body, working on your weaknesses, and preventing future injuries. Whether this is establishing a pre-run stretching routine, making use of that foam roller that’s been gathering dust, taking part in some online yoga for runners, or working on your leg strength with some strength training exercises like goblet squats, weighted lunges or thrusters. You don’t necessarily need any specialist equipment for this kind of strength training either. If you don’t have anything like a kettlebell or dumbbell at home, you can use something like bottles of water or a heavy object (maybe a backpack filled with some tins!) to add some weight to your movements.
Let us know in the comments how you’re feeling if your marathon has been canceled or postponed, and how you’re focusing on the positives of this situation.
---
We’d recommend keeping an eye on UK activity guidelines, or if you’re not in the UK, guidelines wherever you are, to help you make the best of this strange situation we all find ourselves in.
---
We hope this post helps you figure out how to do with your marathon fitness. If you’re looking for even more info, here are a few more resources to check out:
